The Infection
by Annie Hawkclaw
Summary: An infection that causes a zombie-like virus hits the clans and forces them to try to escape... at all costs. (Survival/Action/Suspense) Rated T for extreme safety. Takes place before The Forgotten Warrior.
1. Prolouge & Info

**Skip the following paragraph if you just want to get to the story.**

Ok, here is all of my story info: I wrote _The Infection_ more than three years ago. It was originally published on the Official Warriors Forums, but because I would like to have all of my stories in one place, I am posting it on here, and this note is just to clear up any confusion that could possibly occur. The story has 28 chapters and totals about 14,000 words, however, I regret to inform you that the story has no official ending. I just never got around to writing it, and since I haven't written a chapter for it for over a year now, I don't see a point. However, I will post my story notes as to how I planned to finish the story in the final chapter so if anyone actually makes it that far, then they can have a bit of closure.

Today I will post the first three or four chapters, and everyday after today I will post a chapter (or two!) until I run out.

Here sits thy disclaimer: I don't own anything.

This story takes place chronologically before _The Forgotten Warrior, _because I wrote it before the book came out.

**Prolouge: The Prophecy**

Bluestar sat down in the deep, dark cave she had traveled into. There with her sat Tallstar, Raggedstar, and Crookedstar. And there with them was a very tired looking Yellowfang. She had called these four leaders here today with a very urgent message, although every cat in Starclan probably knew what it was about. A very strange infection had started going through the clans, causing a severe form of bellyache. It was probably just a case of bad prey that would be gone in the next moon… but Yellowfang, for once, actually looked frightened. The leaders quieted down, waiting for her to start. After a few long moments of silence, she began.

"I believe that this disease is something we have never seen before. Last quarter moon, I saw Ravenpaw at the Moonstone-"

"The Moonstone?" replied Crookedstar, sounding surprised. "But we are nearly a quarter of a moons journey from there! Even in Starclan!" Yellowfang ignored him and kept going. "Well, you see… I still visit the old forest sometimes… It brings back good memories. But anyways, that is not the point." She took a big breath before continuing. "Ravenpaw desperately needed to talk to me. I just happened to see him there. He said that Barley and one of the dogs he lived with had come down with a very bad bellyache… and so had many of the other cats and dogs in the area. He thought we should know."

"So…" Raggedstar said "This is more widespread than we thought?"

Yellowfang replied sadly "I believe so. He said many of twolegs were leaving, most heading towards the sun-drown place. He also noticed the twolegs would run away whenever they saw a cat or dog. Even his own twolegs who lived by his barn left without notice."

"This is something much bigger than we thought! We must warn the clans!" yowled Tallstar. Crookedstar nodded in agreement. Even Raggedstar started to agree. They all turned to Bluestar. "What do you think?" Bluestar replied "Yes, I think we should. We must tell them-" Her eyes suddenly turned dark. The cats were all frightened a bit at this sudden turn, but they knew what was coming.

"The survivors must band together, four as one, and travel towards the drowning sun, where only the water will keep them safe for good. A few will be found, many more lost, to escape from their own clans… at great costs." Bluestar returned to normal, finished. All of the leader's fur was now bristled up fully. Tallstar quickly replied "We must alert the clans immediately! Send a sign to the gathering, it will be starting soon!" And with that, all the leaders rushed out to send a sign in time… if they weren't already too late.


	2. Chapter 1: The Infection

**Chapter 1: The Infection**

Jayfeather woke to the sound of a cat walking into his den. Sitting up, tiredly, he scented that it was Millie. She walked in cautiously, looking at all of the other sick cats, which Jayfeather had been getting a lot of lately. Many cats coming in, complaining of a bellyache of some sort. However, herbs were no use against it. It just kept getting worse and worse. He figured that since tomorrow was the gathering, Firestar would probably announce it there. He had no idea if the other clans were having the same problem, but it was best to let them know. He turned his attention back to Millie. She had just set down, waiting for him to talk to her. He said "Let me guess, bellyache?" .

"Yep" Millie responded. She didn't sound that well. He showed her to a corner to sit. There wasn't much room left, because the den was full of cats, including Briarlight, Toadstep, Hazeltail, Squirrelflight, and Sandstorm. All with the same problem. Jayfeather had a theory it could have been a bad bit of prey. Firestar told him of the time where all the rabbits were too sick to eat, and Dappletail had died when she ate one. Would this be like that too? He wondered, when another cat in his den, Mousewhisker, stirred.

Jayfeather walked towards him. "How are you feeling?" He asked. Mousewhisker looked up at him. This was when Jayfeather noticed something was wrong. Even without seeing,Jayfeather noticed that he smelled and sounded different. He was about to ask his question again when all of a sudden Mousewhisker leaped up, bit him, and fell to the ground dead.


	3. Chapter 2: The Gathering

**Chapter 2: The Gathering**

Firestar walked over the treebridge that lead to the island where the gatherings were held. The night was crisp and clear, nearly perfect, but that did nothing to cheer his Thunderclan cats up. He had brought nearly every available warrior and apprentice with him to the gathering so he wouldn't look so weak. So many cats were sick back in camp… the only cats who weren't sick back in the camp right now were Cloudtail, Whitewing, Dustpelt, Ivypool, Ferncloud, Purdy, Foxleap, and Brambleclaw. Even Jayfeather had gotten sick… after Mousewhisker had gone insane and bitten him…

The infection was getting worse. This morning, Briarlight, Daisy, and Mousefur had all died from it, even after holding out for nearly a quarter moon. He turned his thoughts back to his cats following him. Only Graystripe, Brackenfur, Sorreltail, Brightheart, Thornclaw, Leafpool, Brichfall, Berrynose, Cinderheart, Lionblaze, and Dovewing had come with him. When he finally got to the island, Firestar went straight to his spot on the big tree. No one was chatting, whispering, or sharing news like usual. They had all fallen silent, waiting for the leaders to start talking.

Blackstar began speaking first. Firestar heard him talking about a few deaths and such, but he wasn't paying too much attention. He was looking down below at the cats. There were only half of what there usually were. The sickness must have been more widespread than he thought. What was really unusual was the fact that he only saw 3 Riverclan cats. He knew Mistystar would never bring only three cats unless something really bad had happened to them...

Mistystar then began talking, mainly about a few deaths that had taken place in the past quarter moon. She stated news that everyone already knew… the cats got a bad bellyache, it was easily spread… and there was no cure. The cats down below were all tense, waiting for better news… but there was nothing. The only important news right now was the infection.

Onestar basically said the same things. Firestar barely listened. More dead cats… Whiskerpaw… Tornear… most of the cats sick with an uncurable disease… the same tragic news. And finally, it was Firestar's turn. "We have had the same disease you all have. Daisy, Briarlight, and Mousefur have died today because of it." The cats below remained silent, having heard the same news three times already. Not one remark had been made the entire time, highly unusual for a gathering. He just continued. "I also bring news that is new to us. Last night, one of our warriors named Mousewhisker has also died, but in a different way. Last night, he woke up in the middle of the night, completely insane. Jayfeather described him as having a different scent… and it seems like he had no sense left in him. He…he bit Jayfeather before falling to the ground and dying."

Gasps filled the night sky like a river flood. The cats exploded in a surge of whispering and disbelief. Since Mousewhisker had been one of the first to get the illness… would this happen to other cats too? The cats down below had finally became silent again, waiting for the leaders to insure them it would be alright, but no one talked. A few long moments of silence passed before Onestar finally spoke again "I belive this gathering is now over…". He then leaped down from the highrock to gather his Windclan cats. Blackstar followed, yowling for the Shawdowclan cats to follow him. Firestar was about to do the same, knowing that there would be nothing gained by staying, but just then Mistystar spoke to him. "Firestar… I need to talk to you… down here please…"


	4. Chapter 3: Gone

**Chapter 3: Gone**

Firestar jumped down from the tree, soon followed by Mistystar. Her eyes were full of sadness, and she looked very weary. "Mistystar… what is it? Is there something wrong?" Mistystar sighed. "Yes, something is wrong… you see… here, come over here, I don't want anyone else to hear." She was motioning to a spot behind a tree, and Firestar slowly followed her there. "So…?" Firestar said. "Well… you see… the disease hit Riverclan a lot harder than I said at the gathering. You see… Riverclan has only three cats left now."

"WHAT?" Firestar yowled in dismay. "What happened?" Mistystar sighed. "The disease was a whole lot worse in Riverclan. Only Willowshine, Mossypaw, and I made it, and even I lost 4 lives because of it…" Firestar was still staring at her in dismay. "What…what happened to the rest of the cats?" Firestar remember only seeing a few Riverclan cats. They must have been the only ones left in Riverclan. "Well… many of them died of the infection… but some… just disappeared. One of our apprentices, Troutpaw, went mad exactly like you described Mousewhisker. He ran off into the woods after biting me. That's how I lost one of my lives. But when I woke up the next morning, all of the cats were… gone. Except for Willowshine, who had been out collecting herbs very late last night with the only non-sick apprentice, Mossypaw. I found them up in a tree the next morning, without herbs and scared stiff. Once I got them down, they told me how they had been attacked by many mad cats… all their own clanmates… who had gone crazy. They... they said they still heard them all night, running around through the trees, completely crazy. After that, we came here, because we figured they may not be able to swim. We were waiting all day for the gathering to start so I could talk to you…" She moaned. "Oh Firestar, what am I going to do?"

She started whimpering. "If either of the other leaders knew… they would just take advantage of it and steal our territory… and I don't know what to do now! We three are starving, homeless, and our own clanmates have gone mad…" She trailed off, still whimpering, looking off into space. She asked in a small voice, "What am I to do now, when I have lost everything I had?"

"Don't worry, Mistystar. You and your clanmates can come with us tonight, and we will figure out what to do in the morning. Riverclan will not be gone for good, I can promise you that." Mistystar sounded relieved. "Oh, thank you Firestar! I will not forget this!" With that, they walked back out into the clearing to find the Thunderclan cats and the Riverclan cats waiting patiently. Firestar was about to announce to them that Riverclan had been through a tragedy, and would be staying in Thunderclan for a while, when he heard a yowl ring out from the treebridge. Racing ahead, he saw Windclan and Shawdowclan, who had already crossed back over the lake, fleeing from a huge group of cats. Firestar and all the remaining cats raced across the treebridge to get a closer look. The group of cats was chasing them... and they all looked crazy. Even from a distance, you could see their glassed-over eyes, and even from a distance, you could smell their terrible scent as clear as the night air. The group was huge! Scanning it with his eyes, he saw a large amount of Riverclan cats, but also Windclan, Shawdowclan and… Thunderclan. Worse than any other sight he had yet to see, at the right side of the group, stood his daughter, Squirrelflight, and his mate, Sandstorm.


	5. Chapter 4: Back To Camp

_(I hope you all are enjoying it so far!)_

**Chapter 4: Back to Camp **

Firestar's yowl rang out through the night. Sandstorm… Squirrelflight… how could Starclan let this happen to him? Even from this far away, he could see nothing of the mate and daughter he knew, he only saw madness. They seemed to be fine enough when he left for the gathering, how could this of happened to him? Sandstorm and Squirrelflight were in with the group of cats, from all four clans, yet they didn't seem to care which clan they belonged to. They were just a big group of cats, driven together by madness, brought to them on the wings of a terrible disease.

They were so frightening, even to a leader who had done all that he had. But something in these cats had changed, and Firestar could see a few weaknesses. They seemed much slower than normal, even the Windclan cats. They also seemed much less intellegant, only dragging on forward, driven by their senses. They may even be disliking of water, as the group seemed to bend around any patch of marsh or the smallest puddle. Firestar also saw some of the other Thunderclan cats, including Spiderleg, Hazeltail, Thornclaw, and even Jayfeather, among others. But his thoughts were not on the cats here, but the living ones back at camp. With a flick of his tail, he motioned for the others to follow him back to camp, but to try to sneak by the group of cats.

But they must have not been fast enough, because the moment they were moving again, part of the group of cats broke away and started lumbering towards them. "RUN!" Firestar yowled out to his cats. His clan and the remainder of Riverclan took off. They could outrun the cats, but they may not have more than a few moments when they got back to camp to gather up who was there. They ran as hard as they could, around the lake, into Thunderclan territory, and finally, into their camp again where they had been just earlier that night.

What awaited Firestar was a scene of total disaster. Not a single cat was there. A few cats, who must have not beaten the disease, lay dead in their dens. But the worst sight was the complete damage that had been done, and in between all of that, Toadstep, laying on the ground dead in a pool of blood. There were many claw marks on his side and his neck. The cats just stared at him in sadness, until they heard a wail from behind them.


	6. Chapter 5: Flight From The Clans

**Chapter 5: Flight From The Clans**

All the cats jumped and turned around in mid-air. Behind them, laying hidden in a pile of leaves, was a small ginger pelt. "Is that you… Cherrykit?" Leafpool said. Cherrykit let out a small, scarred squeak. "Whats wrong, Cherrykit?" Brightheart asked. "Its-its Molekit. You see-" Her talking was cut off by the sound of many foot prints coming towards the camp. "QUICK! GET OUT OF CAMP! Run to the Horseplace, and up onto the barn!" Firestar yowled. "I've got Cherrykit!" Brightheart yelled. The cats ran out of the camp.

They continued running, Leafpool and Berrynose running beside Brightheart to help her with Cherrykit. They had just crossed the stream on the border of Windclan, when they saw Foxleap's red pelt. "Foxleap!" Firestar yelled out. "Follow us!" He leapt right in with them, and followed them to the Horseplace. Eventually, Firestar called out for a moments rest, to give everyone a chance to stop, and Brightheart to pass Cherrykit to Lionblaze. Firestar sparred a glance behind him, and what he saw chilled him to the bone.

Barley a hundred fox lengths behind was that group of cats, lumbering towards them, and the air seemed to chill as they got closer. "WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" Firestar yelled. He ran off, and with a glance behind his shoulders, he saw the clans take a look behind them, and instantly run after him. But he could see that the cats were gaining on them. They did not seem to tire easily, and his cats were starting to be exhausted. Thornclaw called out "I'll distract them! Keep going!" He turned and sped off in another direction. Berrynose soon followed, and they both ran towards the mad cats, maybe never to be seen again.

(_Since this was short, there will be another chapter released tonight.)_


	7. Chapter 6: The Barn

**Chapter 6: The Barn**

The group of mad cats seemed momentarily distracted, trying to decide which cats to go for. They eventually decided to go for the easy to catch, the 2 cats running right towards them. Firestar and his group kept running, not daring to look back, and eventually they saw the barn up ahead of them. They kept running, not even stopping to listen to the terrible yowls and cries coming from behind them… they all knew Berrynose and Thornclaw would not make it.

They had just passed a huge tree when they heard a yowl from up it. Firestar tilted his head up… and stopped. "KEEP RUNNING" He yelled to the others. Because up in the tree was Dawnpelt. "Dawnpelt, come with us!" Firestar yelled. She hoped down after a moment of uncertainty, and they both started running to catch up with their group.

The barn loomed closer still. They ran around the fence, for it would take too long to leap over it, especially with Lionblaze holding Cherrykit. And finally, the barn stood in front of them. "Everyone on top!" Firestar yowled to the group. The barn had a huge, open door that the cats could use their claws to climb up, like a tree, and from there leap up onto the top. Lionblaze went up first with Cherrykit and Leafpool at his side. They got to the top, and leaped onto the roof. Willowshine and Dovewing soon followed, then Mistystar and Mossypaw. Mossypaw nearly fell when she jumped, because she was so small and she slipped, but at the last moment Lionblaze reached out and grabbed her. Brightheart and Sorreltail went up next, soon followed by Graystripe and Foxleap. Cinderheart followed right after them. It was only him, Dawnpelt, and Birchfall left now. Dawnpelt hoped up too, but she was only half way up when he heard heavy paw steps behind him.

They had snuck up on him without him knowing. Only two cats, from Windclan by the looks of it, were there, but they had those eerie clear, glassy eyes. They must have continued on after them after the bigger group had gone for the easy prey, and being Windclan, were able to catch up in time. Firestar could not recall the first one's name, but the second one was definitely Harespring. Harespring lunged for Birchfall's neck, and Birchfall was dead before he could even turn around. Firestar yowled in alarm, and sprang on Harespring. The other cat, who was barely old enough to be an apprentice, lunged for Firestar too, but Firestar easily swatted him away and most likely knocked him out cold. This left him and Harespring. Even though Harespring was one of the newer warriors, the Infection powered him, making him a tough opponent. Harespring finally managed to push him off balance, and was about to lunge for his throught when a black shadow jumped out of the barn and bowled him over. This was Firestar's chance, and he climbed up the door faster than anyone, and leaped onto the barn. All his cats were there too, tired, but ok.

Suddenly, Firestar turned around. The black shadow had leapt up after him and was now on the barn too! Firestar was almost ready to lunge onto the cat, when he noticed for one, the cat's eyes were not glassy, and two, he knew the cat. It had been a long time… but he could still recognize that dark pelt anywhere.

"Ravenpaw?"


	8. Chapter 7: A Night of Rest

**Chapter 7: A Night of Rest**

Ravenpaw smiled. Fiestar's eyes widened in surprise. "But-t-… You live so far away! What are you doing here?" Firestar meowed. Ravenpaw laughed. "Saving you?" But then Ravenpaw sighed. You could see the sorrow in his eyes. "It's a long, long story, Firestar." Firestar understood. Whatever happened to Ravenpaw was very sad, and he could bet 10 voles that it had something to do with the infection going around.

Firestar turned his attention to the tired, scared, hungry, and devastated group of cats he had just led to the barn. Did he choose the right thing to do by bringing them up here? He knew that they wouldn't have been able to go much longer, but still… he could hear the cold mews and scratches of the mad cats below, trying to get up to them. He shivered at the thought of what they did to Birchfall. They must be going crazy having a group of living prey just above their heads.

Firestar decided to focus again on the living. The two leaders here were him and Mistystar. They had one medicine cat, Willowshine, although Leafpool could help her if needed. He surveyed the warriors, which included only Brightheart, Sorreltail, Graystripe, Brackenfur, Lionblaze, Cinderheart, Foxleap, Dawnpelt, and Dovewing. There was only one apprentice, Mossypaw, and one kit, Cherrykit. The cats had all settled down, but their fur was still pricked up. Firestar needed to talk to them as a group.

So making a quick decision, he hoped onto a short two-leg thing on the very top of the roof. "Cats sitting on this barn, gather beneath me for a meeting!" He watched as the cats below turned towards him. Firestar started speaking... "We all know what has just happened, and I think we all know it is unsafe to return to our homes. For now, we will all travel together, since we are the Survivors. I, along with Mistystar, will decide what to do in the morning. Tonight, we rest. However, wherever we go, no kits will be coming along, as the journey will probably be too tough." The cats below gasped. "Cherrykit, please step forward." Firestar's call rang out.


	9. Chapter 8: The Meeting

**Chapter 8: The Meeting (Cherrykit's POV)**

Cherrykit shakily stepped forward to face Firestar. She could hear the quickened heartbeats of those behind her. Firestar had said there would be no kits going on the journey, and she was the only kit here, at the age of 5 moons. What would happen to her?

Firestar began talking. "Cherrykit, I know you have not yet reached the age of six moons, but we have dark times ahead of us, and we will need all paws helping us. That is my reasoning for making you an apprentice early. Cherrykit, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Cherrypaw. I will mentor you and teach you all I know, until you are ready to become a full warrior."

The cats cheered at Firestar's words. Cherrypaw let out a huff of relief. She was okay! And even better, she was an apprentice a whole moon early! The cats all cheered out her apprentice name. "Cherrypaw! Cherrypaw! Cherrypaw!" Firestar waited for them to stop before continuing with the meeting. "Also due to the circumstances, at least three warriors or apprentices must be awake at all times, guarding the place where we are sleeping. Tonight, Graystripe, Lionblaze, and Sorreltail will take first watch. Just before dawn, you three will switch with Cherrypaw, Dovewing, and me." Cherrypaw noticed him glance at Dovewing, and she nodded. What did they know that she didn't?

Firestar just continued. "Tonight, we rest. Tomorrow, we will find a way to get away from the cats. Make yourself as comfortable as you can, and get a good night of sleep. And one more thing… I would like Cherrypaw, Dawnpelt, Ravenpaw, and Mistystar to talk to me before we sleep. The meeting is over."

After this, all the cats dispersed. Lionblaze sat by Cinderheart for a moment before walking over to the edge of the barn for the first watch. Willowshine was attending to Foxleap, who had probably gotten a thorn in his paw while running or something. Brackenfur was saying good night to Sorreltail before he settled down and made himself comfortable. All seemed peaceful… except for the moaning and groaning on the ground below, of course. Then Cherrypaw remembered what Firestar had said at the end of the meeting. He wanted to talk to her! She dashed over to him, where Dawnpelt, Ravenpaw, and Mistystar were already gathered.


	10. Chapter 9: The Stories

**Chapter 9: The Stories **(Cherrypaw POV)

Cherrypaw sat down by Mistystar and Dawnpelt, waiting for Firestar to begin talking. She noticed that all the cats up on the barn had quieted down a lot. She suspected many were probably asleep, and she didn't blame them. She had woken up at around dawn and hadn't slept since. However, even though it was now past moonhigh, she did not think she would be able to sleep tonight because of the constant eerie moaning and walking below.

Then Firestar began to speak. "I wanted to talk to your four because I wish to hear your stories of how you got here. Ravenpaw, would you like to go first?"

And so Ravenpaw began with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "It was a regular day like any other when Barely got sick. The two-legs had been acting very strange for the past moon, and when the ones that lived by us saw Barley sick… even though he just had a bellyache, they packed up and left. Barley kept getting worse, and one day, I woke up to find him d-…dead. I traveled here as fast as I could, searching for you guys, and I guess I found you." Ravenpaw starred off into the distance, and Cherrypaw could tell he did not want to talk any more about this cat Barley's death- whoever he was.

Firestar nodded to Dawnpelt to go next, so she started on her story. "Well, you saw what happened at the gathering. I got separated from Windclan and Shawdowclan as we were fleeing, and I climbed a tree to escape a mad cat that decided to follow me. The cat eventually left and followed the rest of Shawdowclan and Windclan before you found me. I don't know what happened to the rest of Shawdowclan and Windclan."

Cherrypaw gulped as she realized it was her turn. She did not want to remember what had just happened at sunset, and she did not want to talk about it. Sadness washed over her as she remembered what had happened. But she had to remain strong; she was an apprentice now. And this was her clan leader talking to her. And so, she began.


	11. Chapter 10: Cherrypaw's Story

**Chapter 10: Cherrypaw's story** (Cherrypaw POV)

"It all started after the patrol for the gathering left. Poppyfrost had a bellyache, so she went back into the nursery to sleep, and left me and Molekit outside to play. But soon, Molekit got a bellyache too. I walked over to Jayfeather's den, but he wasn't there. Then I decided to… well, I couldn't resist. I snuck out of camp, I REALLY wanted to climb that big tree with the low branches outside of camp so I could brag about it to Molekit! I was up there a long time, enjoying the feeling of being up in the air. Soon, I heard a screech. I ran back to the camp as fast as I could, but no one was there, except for Toadstep lying on the ground. Then I saw Molekit run out of the nursery and out of camp as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast, so I snuck after him. He noticed me after a while, and when he turned around, he had these huge glassy eyes! And he tried to pounce on me! I ran right back to camp and hid under that huge pile of leaves, trying to hide from him. He looked for me for a while, but he couldn't find me, so eventually he just left. And I layed there until you found me."

Cherrypaw finished. She hoped that they wouldn't punish her for sneaking out of camp, but they didn't seemed concerned about that. Then Firestar spoke. "Thank you, Cherrypaw. You can go get some sleep now. I will wake you up for watch." Cherrypaw didn't argue. She laid down, and without even making a nest, she was asleep.

(_Yeah, I know. This is the shortest chapter of the whole story. To make it up to you all, I will publish an extra chapter tonight! Also, tomorrow I will be out most of the day. I will still have time to publish a chapter, but it will probably be pretty late tomorrow night. Thank you for your continued support. )_


	12. Chapter 11: Watch

**Chapter 11: Watch** (Cherrypaw POV)

Cherrypaw woke up to feel a paw prodding her side. "It's your turn for watch" whispered Dovewing. Cherrypaw groaned. The first thing she got to do as an apprentice was watch for a bunch of crazy cats. She told Dovewing to give her a moment, and she sat up and started grooming herself. Her ears pricked as she heard two cats talking from behind the tall two-leg thing. At first she thought it was the watch, but she soon realized it was actually Lionblaze and Dovewing. They were talking in hushed whispers. What are they talking about that they would have to whisper among their own clanmates? For a second she thought that a reason they could be whisper was to just not wake their tired clanmates, but when she crept closer, she realized that wasn't the case.

"Lionblaze, what do we do? Jayfeather was one of the three, and now he is infected with a disease we know there is no cure for! What about the prophecy?" whispered Dovewing. "Well, one thing we know for sure is that this is because of the Dark Forest. Trying to use their powers to kill the clans without even fighting us? Cowards!" replied Lionblaze. What were they talking about? The Dark Forest? One of the three? The prophecy?

"Lionblaze, it's not just us. The Infection is not just about the clans, but about all the cats in every direction. They are trying to kill all the cats so they can take over everything!" Dovewing growled. She heard Dovewing get up, and she had to run back to her sleeping spot and flop herself down so fast that Mossypaw, who was sleeping across from her, nearly woke up. What in Starclan were they talking about?

Her watch came and passed more quickly than she had thought. It actually wasn't that bad, as she got to look up and gaze at the stars and the moon. Dovewing, who sat beside her, seemed normal, like the conversation had never really happened. Soon enough, it was nearly dawn. The whole clan started to wake up, shaking dead leaves and dust off of their pelts. Firestar hoped back onto the tall two-leg thing, and the cats gathered around him, even without the normal call.

Firestar began to speak. "We must decide what to do, and where to go next. Anyone have any ideas of a way to get past the- mad cats?" No one said anything, until finally Ravenpaw spoke up. "On my way to the clans, I only encountered a few mad cats, so I don't know much about them. One thing I know, is that whenever I come across a two-leg, they point at me, scream, and run away. Other cats that have spoken to me notice the same thing. The two-legs probably don't want to catch the infection. But I noticed one time, when a two-leg came across a real crazy cat, a word the two-leg used. They called the cat a zombie."

The clan hushed at the word. Zombie. It sounds so… evil. It fit the mad cats well. Firestar spoke up again. "Ok, any ideas on what to do now?" But everyone's attention was looking at the sun; its tip which had just came over the horizon. The effect was instantaneous. All at once, the zombie cats fell silent below them, and Lionblaze collapsed.


	13. Chapter 12: The Dream

**Chapter 12: The Dream** (Lionblaze POV)

"Lionblaze…Lionblaze…LIONBLAZE! WAKE UP!" Lionblaze opened his eyes. He was no longer on top of a barn, but standing in complete darkness. This wasn't the usual darkness though, as he could see the cat perfectly in front of him. I must be dreaming he thought. Wait… the cat in front of him was Jayfeather! He was all right! "J-J-Jayfeather?" he asked. Jayfeather nodded. "B-But… You were a zombie! I saw you!" Jayfeather sighed. "I still am. See, when the sun comes up, the zombies fall into a sort of trance- not of choice, of course- but we fall asleep. You cannot wake up a sleeping zombie. And the moment the sun sets, our group will wake up, and begin tracking your scent to wherever you are. Be careful at night. And remember, we aren't the only zombies out there." Jayfeather was beginning to fade.

"What's happening?" Lionblaze asked him.

Jayfeather sighed. "Well, you see, I used my power to walk in your dreams so I could talk to you. I am still a zombie, but when the zombies are sleeping, they regain a bit of their old minds. But that won't help you, as when the zombies to wake again, we will be after you. But use this time to your advantage. Hunt. Travel a bit. Find a place to stay. But I must warn you, zombies are smarter than you would think. We would have found a way onto your barn before sun-high if we were not affected by the sun. No place is perfectly safe anymore. But Lionblaze, when you see me as a zombie, would you pleas-"

At that moment, Bluestar appeared in Lionblaze's dream. Jayfeather gasped. "Bluestar, what is it?" Bluestar looked very solemn. "The prophecy has started. The three- you, Lionblaze, and Dovewing, must guide the clans from the darkness. You will each have a special part in guiding your clan to its new home. Jayfeather, you have already completed your part of the prophecy by warning Lionblaze about the zombies. Lionblaze, you and Dovewing must also do an act that will guide your clanmates- even if you die. And the fourth will have an important role too. You must find the fourth…" Bluestar's eyes turned dark. "The survivors must band together, 4 as one, as they must travel towards the drowning sun, where only the water will keep them safe for good. A few will be found, many more lost, to escape from their own clans… at great costs." And with that eerie warning, she faded from his dream.

Jayfeather was almost completely gone now, and Lionblaze knew he was about to wake up. Jayfeather spoke up. "Lionblaze… if you see me as a zombie… please kill me." And with that, Lionblaze faded from the darkness, blinked open his eyes, and saw his clanmates gathered around him, staring at him. "The drowning sun…" Bluestar's words echoed in his mind. "The drowning sun…" It became apparent to him at once. That is where they must go.


	14. Chapter 13: The Setting Sun

**Chapter 13: The Setting Sun** (Mossypaw POV)

Right in the middle of the meeting, the sun came up. The 'zombies' stopped moving and moaning, and Lionblaze collapsed. It was crazy that only two sunrises ago she was on a dawn patrol. A dawn patrol… what she would give to be on a plain and regular dawn patrol. Mossypaw peered over the edge of the old bard. The zombies had frozen completely in place, appearing to be asleep. The clan cats gasped. What happened to them? Were they really asleep? That would be nice.

Suddenly, Lionblaze stirred. He whispered something out load, and ran to over to Firestar faster than a fox. He whispered something into his ear, and they both ducked behind the tall two-leg thing on the barn's roof. She could faintly hear them whispering to each other. After a while, many of the cats began to peer over the edge to see what was going on with the zombie cats, and she heard many of them gasp. She backed away slowly closer to the edge of the barn. She had never been comfortable being around huge groups of cats, even in her own clan. But with cats from another clan… She had been learned all her life to dislike the other clans. With them mingling around her… with only two other Riverclan cats to keep her company… she felt like she had a bellyache. Which is ironic, because that was what started this whole thing.

Soon enough, Lionblaze and Firestar emerged from behind the two-leg thing. Firestar immediately leaped up onto it. The cats who were off looking at the zombies gathered around him. Mossypaw looked around for a Riverclan cat to sit by and soon saw Willowshine not far away, and sat by her. She had always been good friends with Willowshine and enjoyed gathering herbs with her. In fact, gathering herbs had saved her life. Mistystar jumped up onto the two-leg thing with Firestar.

Firestar began speaking. "Cats below me, Lionblaze has received a dream." The cats below gasped. Regular warriors usually didn't get dreams from Starclan. Was he different? Firestar ignored them and continued. "He was… spoken to. Bluestar came and told him a prophecy telling us what to do." The cats waited in anticipation. "She said to travel to the drowning sun… so that is where we must go. To the sun-drown place. Sadly, none of the six cats who journeyed there first are still with us." You could easily see the sadness in his eyes. "Wait… the sun-drown place? Why there?" Foxleap called out. Firestar just shook his head. "Starclan told us to, so we will. It seems as good as any place right now. We will move out as soon as we are done with the meeti-"

Suddenly a scratching sound came from the door. A cat jumped onto the barn roof, a small one by the looks of it. Only a young apprentice. The cats around them tensed. This couldn't be a zombie… could it? But as the cat came closer, you could tell it was not a zombie; its eyes were blue, not white and glassy. It was a small tom- white with a black stripe. He looked very scared. "You…aren't zombies? I haven't seem a living cat in a long time." Firestar jumped down and walked to him, the cat's heads followed them.

"What is your name?" Firestar asked. The young tom answered "My n-name is… Hail. What are you doing on this barn?" Firestar explained how they were parts of the clans that lived by the lake, and how they had traveled here, running from the zombie clan cats. The young cat listened intently. "Wow…" he said "I traveled here after… well, I traveled from that direction." He pointed towards the rising sun. Firestar asked if he would like to travel with them, and the tom eagerly nodded.

"What's your name?" Hail asked Firestar. Firestar said "My name is Firestar, leader of Thunderclan." Hail's eyes were wide with awe. "Can I… join your clan?". Mossypaw guessed he would say yes, and of course, he did. For once, no cat objected to this tom joining. Another cat meant more rest for all of them, and more fighting power. Plus, maybe there was a hint of respect in their eyes for the young tom who had traveled so far at such a young age? Anyways, Firestar hoped back onto the two-leg thing, and gave the eager Hail a clan name- Hailpaw. Foxleap became the young tom's mentor.

Firestar continued the meeting like nothing had happened. "Cats below me, Lionblaze learned the reason for the zombie's silence. The sun is now our protection- as any moment the sun is up, the zombies enter a deep sleep in which they cannot be woken from. This is our chance to go. But I must remind you, not only the cats below us are our dangers. There will be many more zombie cats out there, from what Ravenpaw described to me. Watch your backs." And with that, Firestar signaled to the clan cats to climb down from the barn to the horrors below.


	15. Chapter 14: Down Below

**Chapter 14: Down Below** (Lionblaze POV)

Find the Fourth…The words still echoed in his mind. The fourth was near him, he could feel it… but who was it? He must find the fourth…

Firestar climbed down the barn, soon followed by Mistystar, Graystripe, and the rest of the cats, until everyone was down. Lionblaze stared out into the sea of cats. Somewhere out around this barn was Jayfeather, and he had heard Jayfeather's last wish. He would make it happen by any means possible. He started to look around for Jayfeather, but there were many, many cats here, and he may not have time, but still, he was about to step into the sea of cats around the barn when Firestar called out to him. "Lionblaze! Get back here! We have to get going!". As much as he hated it, he knew Firestar was right. It was already much past dawn, and they needed a good head start. He sent a silent sorry to Jayfeather, and walked back to the Survivors. They started walking away from the rising sun, their last protector.

(_Short chapter time! I promise there will be at least one more chapter today. Oh no, we're already halfway done!)_


	16. Chapter 15: The Other Clans

** Chapter 15: What Happened to the Other Clans...** (Ashfoot POV)

The group of cats finally stopped to rest near a deserted two-leg house. They had been traveling at a constant pace from the moment the mad cats were seen all together in that huge group. It seemed like forever since the gathering… but it wasn't even dawn yet. In fact, it was half-way between moonhigh and dawn. They had been running, and when they were too tired to run, jogging, from the mad cats. The night was still dark, and they wouldn't have much time to rest before they would have to keep moving again. The air around them was crisp and cold, the only sounds were of cats panting and gasping for breath. She heard Littlecloud's breath coming on hard from behind her- he had still not completely recovered from his case of white cough last leaf-bare. Everyone stayed silent. There was no room for talking in this new crazy world.

Finally, Blackstar spoke. "We should probably keep going until dawn, and then find a good place to rest for the day- away from that group of cats." He said gruffly. Onestar looked at him with pure fury in his eyes. "WHAT? We have been running since moonhigh with elders and apprentices- and you want to KEEP GOING?"Onestar growled at him. Blackstar now looked at him in fury too. "What are we to do, stop here?" He sneered at Onestar. Onestar growled in response. "Yes, we are! Do you see how tired these cats are?" He said, gesturing to the group around him. "They cannot keep going! If we go up onto the roof of the house, we will be far up and safe from them!"

Blackstar was not convinced. "No, Onestar, we will not. We will NOT be safe from them here!" Onestar now had plain hatred in his eyes. "Well, why don't we let them decide? All cats who wish to keep going, go to Blackstar. Any who wish to stay and rest, come over here to me." The cats began to separate into groups. Littlecloud dutifully stepped to Blackstar's side, along with Smokefoot, Tawnypelt, Ivytail, and Pinepaw of Shawdowclan. Surprisingly, most of Shawdowclan walked to Onestar. Blackstar just growled towards them. The cats left in the middle were thinning out. Finally, Sedgewhisker of Windclan walked over to Blackstar's side. "TRAITOR! HOW COULD YOU?" Onestar yelled with ferocity at her. Sedgewhisker stayed calm. "Onestar, I agree with Blackstar. We must continue to survive." Blackstar grunted his approval, and Onestar just looked away from her. Whitetail of Windclan sat down by Sedgewhisker too. Finally, Ashfoot came to her decision, and she walked to Blackstar's side.

Onestar yowled at her, along with a lot of the remaining Windclan cats by him. She just looked away. "We need to survive" she said "That is all I have to say about this". Finally, there was only one cat left in the middle- Rushpaw of Riverclan, who had been found sitting scared in a cave far from the clan territories just a bit before this. She said she had run from Riverclan when a mad cat attacked her, and she had been sitting in that cave all day and night long. She sat there in the middle of the clearing, looking scared, until finally, she too came to sit by Blackstar. Onestar stared at Blackstar. "Well, I guess you will be going now?" Blackstar nodded curtly, before turning around and plunging into the woods. Ashfoot took one more look at the cats she was leaving behind- Crowfeather, Breezepelt, Weaselfur, and many more Shawdowclan cats she did not care to identify. She just wanted to leave all these staring faces. She turned into the woods and followed Blackstar.

She heard Onestar's group begin to climb onto the roof of the two-leg nest and settle down for the night. However much she wanted to just lie down and sleep, she had to continue walking at a brisk pace. They had to keep going to survive. They had only gone a short ways before they heard a shriek behind them. One after another, and the shrieks kept coming. Among them came the moans of happiness from the mad cats and the sound of claws scraping the roof. They did not fully understand what was going on until a Shawdowclan cat came running to them. He was Leaftail, one of Onestar's group. He plowed right through the cats and ran right up to Blackstar. "T-t-he m-m-mad c-cats… they found us." Looks of horror flowed onto the cat's faces. "They cornered us on the roof; we didn't even have time to run. They flowed onto the roof and killed us in the dark of the night. Blackstar, I am the only survivor."


	17. Chapter 16: The Field

** Chapter 16: The Field** (Mossypaw POV)

Mossypaw walked with the group of Survivors over the rough terrain. They had entered a field of grass taller that their heads at around sun-high, and they had yet to find a way out of it. Thankfully, there was a surplus of mice in the field, so they were at least able to eat. One thing that did manage to bother them was the lack of water; they had not found a single source of water since they had started walking. The sun beat down hard above their heads, despite the grass being so tall they couldn't even see the sun. They continued walking towards the sun-drown place and through the grassy field, until eventually they came upon a path of flattened grass that lead farther into the field.

Firestar stopped the group at the crossroads, and all the cats immediately fell to the ground panting. The path parallel to theirs turned a corner about three tail-lengths from their resting point. Firestar motioned for Graystripe and Dawnpelt to see what was in that direction. They had just reached the turn into the fields when Dawnpelt leaped back and let out a shriek. The whole group stood up, whiskers twitching and hair raised on end. Dawnpelt ran up to Firestar and told him whatever it was, and he motioned for the group to keep going. Mossypaw just had to see what it was, so she ran to the path real quick and peaked around the corner. Dawnpelt was right. It was hard not to shriek.

There lying in the grass was a drooling zombie. It did not seem to be awake, because apparently all the zombies fell asleep during the day. But the thing had deep gashes in its side, and you could see its blood still oozing out. Mossypaw immediately let out a gasp of horror and ran after the group. Dawnpelt was right- it was hard not to shriek.


	18. Chapter 17: In Starclan

** Chapter 17: In Starclan** (Mousewhisker POV)

All around him, cats struggled to walk on. They had been walking with only short breaks to hunt since… last night? Either way, Mousewhisker had had barely any time to adjust to being dead before they had to leave their usual grounds. When he had first come to Starclan after getting sick, he was relieved to be dead. The disease had brought so much pain to him, and he had felt better in Starclan. Still, he had learned stuff was going on in Starclan that he would have never thought possible. Starclan had again divided into four clans, and every cat was stiff with terror, not prancing around happily like they should be. In fact, cats were still very wary around him for once being Infected, despite him being in Starclan now.

But there was still one cat who stuck with him. Daisy, who miraculously decided to join Starclan when she died, was not scarred of him one bit. His mother stuck with him at all times, protecting him from the hard stares he sometimes received. Berrynose and Hazeltail were still both stuck below… as Infected. Times were tough. You could easily see Starclan as a whole was weakening. He had heard tales of a time when you died and went to Starclan, you were healed of all your scars, you would never tire, and you could be happy. But somehow, this didn't happen anymore. Mousewhisker could easily tell the cats around him were tiring, and many of the newly dead cats still showed scars on their pelts. And now they were running from some danger he had just heard of- the Dark Forest. When the group of remaining Thunderclan cats left with all of Riverclan, so did Starclan. The dead Shawdowclan and Windclan cats went another way together, and hadn't been seen since. They may never be seen again.

His group of Thunderclan and Riverclan cats continued. The cats leading them- Rainstar and Thornstar, the oldest non faded leaders of Riverclan and Thunderclan- had only told a select group of senior warriors what was going on. The rest just struggled on through Starclan's forests. They moved forward as fast as they could, but not fast enough apparently. Sunstar, one of the cats scouting ahead, burst into the clearing where they were resting, and a few moments later dark cats looking like shadows had surrounded them. Every single cat bolted straight up. They were surrounded by the danger they only knew the name of- the Dark Forest.

Two cats stepped forward. One was a huge dark brown tabby tom, and the other was a nearly faded she-cat. Mousewhisker moved forward to get a better look. They had already begun speaking by the time he got to the front of the group. "Tigerstar, Mapleshade, how dare you bring your cats here?" Bluestar spoke. Tigerstar sneered at her. "You know the reason Bluestar. We are here to destroy the clans, to get our revenge. And our first step to them is through Starclan." Tigerstar looked down on her with a triumphant smile. "NEVER!" Bluestar yowled, and she leaped at Tigerstar. One other cat emerged from the crowd too- a small she-kit. The battle was over quickly, and Tigerstar had pinned Bluestar down. The other she-cat pinned the still yowling kit down. Tigerstar sneered to Bluestar "How about you watch your kit fade before you do?". "NOOOOOOO! MOSSKIT!" Bluestar yowled in desperation. But it was too late. The fading she-cat bit down on the squirming kit's neck, and the small she-kit quickly faded. "NOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOO!" Bluestar continued to yowl, her eyes filled with unimaginable sadness and loss. But it was to late- the kit was gone. Forever.

"It's your turn now, Bluestar. I have waited too long to do this." Tigerstar said before biting down on Bluestar's neck. She quickly faded too. The whole of Starclan stood in astonishment, but Mousewhisker knew what he had to do. He quickly made his decision and leaped onto Tigerstar. He had surprise on his side; Mousewhisker was able to leap out of the way of the massive warrior and onto Mapleshade before he had even registered what was going on. But Mousewhisker knew he had no chance, and he was quickly pinned down by the she-cat. The two just laughed at him. "Think you could battle US?". Mousewhisker knew he couldn't, but that wasn't his plan. He had seen a break in the Dark Forest lines when Bluestar was killed, and had quickly whispered it to Thornstar, who must have told the other Starclan cats, as they were now running out of the clearing at full speed, unable to be caught by any Dark Forest cat. "NO!" Tigerstar yowled in outrage. He ran off after the cats, but turned around and yowled to the she-cat pinning him down "KILL HIM!". Then he ran off. The she-cat immediately bit down on his neck with a killing bite before following the rest of the Dark Forest cats into the forest.

Mousewhisker lay on the ground, covered in blood, in his last moment. But he didn't care, he had given the clan cats his only gift left- the gift of time, the gift of escape. It was worth it… was his last thought before he gave a final breath, and then faded into darkness.


	19. Chapter 18: Mossypaw's Bet

**Chapter 18: Mossypaw's Bet**

Cherrypaw's paws were starting to hurt. She had never walked this far; not even the time when she stayed up playing a huge game of catch the warrior with Molekit all day long. The Survivors were still traveling, but it was well past sun-high now, and they had yet to get out of the field. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea? Cherrypaw thought to herself. A few cats were talking as they walked, but only in hushed whispers, as if they didn't want the zombies to hear them. Cherrypaw fell back beside a young white and brown she-cat. "What's your name?" Cherrypaw whispered to her.

"My name is… Mossypaw." The she-cat replied. "You're Cherrypaw, aren't you? You were the one Firestar made an apprentice last night." Cherrypaw nodded. "So… you're from Riverclan? What happened to the rest of Riverclan? Why are you the only three here?" The group of cats continued walking. Mossypaw lowered her head in dismay. "It's a long, long story Cherrypaw. We are the only three left of Riverclan now." Cherrypaw gasped. "Are you serious? I'm so sorry! Wow, you must have been really strong to be one of the only three Riverclan cats left!"

Mossypaw just shook her head in sadness. "I'm not strong, Cherrypaw. In fact, I am so small and weak I couldn't become an apprentice until I was 9 moons old. It's luck that I am alive. Willowshine asked either my sister, Troutstream, me, or Rushpaw to come herb collecting with her. None of us wanted to, so we threw a mouse in the air. If it landed on its side, Rushpaw went herb collecting. If it landed on its back, I went. If it landed on its stomach, Troutstream went. I lost, so I went herb collecting. Me and Willowshine escaped, and now Troutstream is a zombie, and Rushpaw is probably dead. It's luck that I am alive. Pure luck." And with that, Mossypaw stalked to the front of the group.

Suddenly, Firestar stopped dead. The cats piled up behind him, bumping into each other. Cherrypaw bumped into Lionblaze, who growled at her. She tried to look over the older warriors heads to see what was the matter, but she couldn't see over them, so she began to shoulder to the front of the group. Up front she could finally see Firestar and Mistystar, looking out ahead of them. Ahead of them, stood a sight to behold. They had reached the end of the field. Now the biggest thunderpath they had ever seen stood in front of them, and on it, a huge sea of monsters that seemed to go on forever.


	20. Chapter 19: BOOM

p class="MsoNormal" strongChapter 19: BOOM /strong(Mossypaw POV)/p  
>p class="MsoNormal" p  
>p class="MsoNormal" p  
>p class="MsoNormal"The monsters sounds were overwhelming. Dovewing shriveled up on the ground, moaning and covering her ears. What was going on with her? The huge river of monsters stretched on and on, rumbling and growling, but barley moving. Angry shouts from two-legs called out, and the monsters made many strange beeping sounds. There was a sense of worry and scaredness in the air; the two-legs were worried about something. Maybe it had to do with zombie cats attacking? Who would ever know.p  
>p class="MsoNormal" p  
>p class="MsoNormal"The cats shrank back into the field for a while, watching the barely moving monsters. Eventually, Firestar came to a decision. "Come on, we have to cross it and keep going." He led the cats down the hill that lead to the Thunderpath, passing a few two-leg dens as they went. They spread out a bit, looking for a good spot to slip through the river of cars without being seen- or worse, being crushed. After a while, Graystripe yowled over to Firestar. "I think I found a-". He never finished speaking though, because at that moment, a huge monster came speeding right towards them. It wasn't even on the Thunderpath, but on the grass beside it! And it was heading right towards them!p  
>p class="MsoNormal" p  
>p class="MsoNormal"The cats jumped out of the way just in time as the monster came to a stop right in front of them. A few two-legs stepped out, holding out long black pointy sticks right at them. Mossypaw was about to laugh at them, and their very strange behavior, when a BOOM came from one of the sticks. Whatever flew out of the stick hit Willowshine right in the chest. She fell over with a loud yowl. Within a heartbeat, another BOOM rang out, this time aimed towards Foxleap, who narrowly missed it. The cats streaked away, back up the hill, with the two-legs running behind them shouting. Even Willowshine was managing to run, but the thing that hit her was causing her to slow down. Mossypaw ran back down the hill a bit to help her and Mistystar, who was also trying to nudge Willowshine on. For some reason, Willowshine was starting to look… sleepy? Her eyes were sagging, and she was beginning to stagger, and now was only able to jog. Mistystar stopped her. "Mossypaw, help me get her on my back!"p 


	21. Chapter 20: Running and Hiding

**Chapter 20: Running and Hiding** (Mossypaw POV)

Mistystar quickly laid down, and Willowshine staggered onto her the best she could, with Mossypaw nudging her on. When she was on, they began to run again, a little faster than when Willowshine was walking. Still, the BOOMS from the two-leg sticks echoed behind them, and they knew the two-legs were catching up to them. Suddenly, she spotted the rest of the group ahead, stopped by a large two-leg den they had passed on the way down. What were they doing? Mossypaw thought to herself, until she noticed they were hurryingly being lead inside by a few strange cats. Mossypaw, Mistystar, and Willowshine soon reached the large two-leg den where the other cats were being ushered inside.

One of the strange cats was a small light brown she-cat. She was the one herding all the cats inside. "Quick! Everyone in!" She yowled. Other cats were inside, including a large brown tom, where helping everyone into large two-leg containers. "Hurry! Hide in here!" He yowled, helping Dawnpelt into one of them, along with Cherrypaw, who was already in there. "Everyone get in one!" He yowled again. Mistystar, and Willowshine on her back, ran up to a strange cat. "My friend got hit by something that came out of a two-leg's long pointy stick! Help us!"

"It's ok, just get in a container! Hurry!" He ran to the nearest container, dragging Willowshine with him, as she was now completely sleeping. Mossypaw ran to a nearby one and hoped in also, landing on top of Hailpaw and Lionblaze. "Hey, watch it!" Lionblaze growled. Mossypaw peeked out of the container, and saw all of the cats were in containers already, except for a few strange cats that were running around closing the containers. Eventually one of them got to her container. "What are you doing?" Mossypaw whispered to a large gray tom, the one closing her container. "Helping hide you." He said gruffly back. He pulled the lid over the container, and Mossypaw was plunged into darkness.

She listened as the remaining scuffling of the strange cats outside her container died down. They must have been getting into their containers too. As the last noise had just died down, every cat hushed, and the two-legs entered the den. They walked around slowly, shouting to each other as they searched for the cats. Their huge thundering steps shook the floor below her, and she wondered for a moment if her container might fall. After a while, she began to feel a bit safer. At least, until a two-leg stopped right in front of her.


	22. Chapter 21: The Refuge

** Chapter 21: The Refuge** (Mossypaw POV)

She inhaled a sharp breath, scared to death as the two-leg stood right over her. The moment seemed to last forever… but finally, the two-leg began to walk away. She sighed in relief, along with Lionblaze and Hailpaw. The two-legs began to shuffle their way out of the barn, calling out to each other in frustration. Soon enough, they were all gone, and there was complete silence. Then, the strange cats began to hop out of their containers.

One after another, the strange cats came and opened the lids back up, letting them see the light once more. Soon enough the same gray tom came back and opened Mossypaw's container. Hailpaw let out a small cry of joy, and the tom gruffly nodded before leaping away to free the next cat. Mossypaw clambered out of the slick container, back into the light. To her left, she saw the small light brown she-cat pulling out the sleeping Willowshine.

Mossypaw ran over to her once she had successfully pulled her out. Mistystar leaped out of the same container. "Is… she going to be ok?" Mossypaw nervously asked the brown she-cat. "Yeah, she'll be fine. Just got hit with a two-leg sleeping thorn. Both Storm and Fin" she motioned to the large gray cat and a smaller blue-gray tom "Have gotten hit by them before. They woke up the same day they were hit. In fact, Fin was up and jumping about by sun-high." She snickered. "Don't worry; she will be up and about by dusk. Just leave her be."

The cats were beginning to gather in the middle of the room, while the strange cats were letting the last cats out of their containers. As she ran up to them, she began to notice how many strange cats there were. Sitting over there was a black she-cat and a fluffy brown tom. Opening containers was the brown she-cat, a large red-brown tom, the dark gray tom named Storm, and a tortoise shell she-cat. Fin, a young blue-gray cat, was running around meeting the new visitors. A small sandy colored she-cat- maybe the age of an apprentice- was shyly saying hi to some of the new cats too.

The red-brown tom was opening the final container when a surprise met them all. Out of it leaped two cats she barely knew, one helping to get the other out, yet it had an immediate effect on the Thunderclan cats. "Whitewing! Purdy!" They all ran over to them, happier than any moment in the last moon, cheering and yowling out their names. "How did you get here?!" one cat yowled out. "WHITEWING!" Dovewing cried out before running over to her. They happily nuzzled each other. "Oh Dovewing… I thought you were dead!" They both purred to each other for a while, while the others threw questions at Purdy faster than he could answer them.

The dark red-brown cat soon stepped forward, and the cats quieted down. "I see you know these cats. They arrived here just this morning. Whitewing, would you like to tell them how?" And she did. She explained all about how she had lead Purdy out of camp away from the Infected cats, and how they were captured by two-legs, who brought them to a huge two-leg den in a huge monster. She explained how they escaped, and got away from the two-legs, and walked most of the night, until stumbling along on this place, where they had stayed all day. The cats cheered for them, until the dark red-brown tom spoke up again. "You were lucky to have of passed us. Two-legs have been taking many cats recently, even non-Infected ones. Both Storm and Fin have been shot by the two-leg's sleeping thorn recently. Don't worry; your friend will be fine." The clan cats let out a sigh of relief.

"Now let me introduce these cats. You already know Whitewing and Purdy. I am Thrush, and this is my daughter Roo" he motioned to the small light brown she-cat. "This is Fin, my younger son." He said, motioning to the eager blue/gray tom. "The black she-cat is Cocoa, and Bowe is the fluffy brown tom. They are both kittypets, lost from their owners. The dark gray tom is Storm, and don't worry, he isn't as grumpy as he looks. There is little Hally" He said, pointing towards the small sandy she-cat. "Oh, and the tortoise shell she-cat over there is Clover. Welcome to the Refuge."

* * *

><p>(<em>Oh no, we're getting close to the end! Only 6 chapters left! D:)<em>


	23. Chapter 22: Visiting the Dark Forest

**Chapter 22: Visiting the Dark Forest** (Ivypool POV)

Ivypool blinked open her eyes, momentarily surprised to find herself in the Dark Forest. But of course, there would be no stop to this dangerous training every night, and deep down she knew it. Of course, she thought to herself, even when crazy cats destroy the clans and almost kill everyone, I still have to show up for Dark Forest training. It was nearly morning already; the few remaining Thunderclan cats and her had been tirelessly running just out of reach of the mad cats all night. Even when they had found a safe spot to stop for the rest of the remaining night, they had been restless for a long time, scared stiff every time a shadow danced through the trees or a creek in the branches echoed across the forest floor. They may never truly be able to escape the cold, lifeless stares coming from the Infected.

She roused herself from her daze, sat up, and shook the dirt off her pelt. Training would be hard tonight, she had many scratches from running at full speed through brambles and bushes. And of course, she would probably be punished with even more training for not being there at the right time, despite spending the night running for her life from mad cats. She stood up, and was about to head into heart of the Dark Forest, when Hollowpaw appeared right in front of her paws, gasping for breath. Ivypool's hair momentarily rose in horror, until she realized that it was just Hollowpaw popping in for training like normal. She bent down to help him up, but he still just laid there, staring out into space in confusion.

"Are you alright, Hollowpaw?" Ivypool asked him, concerned. He blinked at her. "H-how...how am I here?" Ivypool just stared at him. "You're here like every night. It's time for training." She began to walk away, but turned around when she heard Hollowpaw talk again. "B-b-b..but... I was one of them... I was one of the Infected." Ivypool jumped back in horror, bumping right up against a huge oak tree. "But... you don't look crazy! You're here right now! How could you possibly be... one of THEM?" Hollowpaw shook his head again in confusion. "I-I don't know... it felt like I was in a dream, I just wanted to kill every cat I saw, and then, I froze. I went into a weird sleep, and now I woke up here."

Ivypool was just about to ask him how in the world he became one of them, or why he said he froze, when Tigerstar walked into the clearing growling. "Ivypool, you're late!" He growled again at her. Hollowpaw was still staring around in confusion. "How am I here?... " Hollowpaw whispered. "I was a crazy cat..." He shakily sat up. "Well, of course you are. We made sure of it."

Ivypool gasped in horror. "Y-you are responsible for the Infection?" Was all Hollowpaw could manage to say. Tigerstar looked at them like they were kits. "Well, of course we are. Clan destroying diseases don't just come every day". "B-b-b-ut... why me?" Hollowpaw asked him, eyes wide in horror. "Well, we needed all the zombies- that is what they are called- that we could manage to get from the clans. You should be proud to serve the Dark Forest in this way. Now, go back to sleep Hollowpaw. You will need all the energy you can get- when the sun sets, you will be needed again. If we can gain more control, maybe even sooner." He pushed Hollowpaw to the ground, who began to fade back awake again. "No... don't send me back there! Please, don't!" Hollowpaw pleaded with all his heart, but Tigerstar just turned away. "Come, Ivypool, let's get a start on your training."

But training was the last thing Ivypool wanted to do right now. There was so much information just out of her reach that would be able to help the remaining of the clans, plus all the living cats out there being affected by the Dark Forest's siege for power. She needed to do this, for the cats, for the clans, for the prophecy. For Dovewing. "Wait, Tigerstar! I want to be made a true Dark Forest warrior!" She called after him.

Tigerstar turned around to her, sneering. "Ah, I figured you would want that. You see Hollowpaw," He said to the still fading cat, "Ivypool is not afraid to help the Dark Forest." Ivypool glanced at Tigerstar. "So... what do I have to do?" She asked him, scared of what he might say. Tigerstar smirked. "Well, how about an apprentice versus warrior fight?" And when he said that, Ivypool knew he meant to the death. At that very moment, Antpelt stepped into the clearing. "Can I fight her?" He asked Tigerstar, sliding his claws in and out, and smiling with glee. "Hmmm... go ahead, I suppose you could fight her." Tigerstar had barley finished speaking when Antpelt leaped onto her.

Surprisingly, the battle was quick. No details could ever explain it, but within moments, she had delivered the death bite to Antpelt's throat, his eyes showing a single heartbeat of being scared before he faded away. Ivypool had fought for the clans, the prophecy, and her sister. She had won, and she felt a glimmer of hope. I did it! She thought, before she found Tigerstar still starring at her. "Hmmm... there is one more thing you must do before you can become a warrior." He smiled wickedly, and Ivypool's flicker of hope blew out, as if Tigerstar speaking was the wind that finished it off. "Kill him." He simply said, motioning to Hollowpaw.

_No...no...no..._ she didn't want to kill this cat, the innocent apprentice who didn't belong here at all. She closed her eyes, and thought about all this meant. For Dovewing... she thought. She was about to pounce on Hollowpaw, who was still lying on the forest floor, when she noticed something. His eyes sent a silent message to her...

_Please..._

And finally, Ivypool felt peace with herself. She would be doing this young cat a favor by killing him; instead and going back and suffering day after day, he would be at peace in Starclan. She leapt onto him and quickly delivered the killing bite. His eyes sent one more message to her...

_Thank you..._

_Go onto Starclan, little one._

Tigerstar smiled in delight. "He was weak. I am glad you are at least loyal to the Dark Forest. You are now a full warrior of the Dark Forest. You should probably head back to your measly little group, they are about to wa-". Tigerstar was interrupted as Mapleshade burst into the clearing. "Tigerstar, Starclan is on the move! Come on!" She sprang back into the bushed, Tigerstar right on her heels. At that very moment, Ivypool felt a nose prodding into her side, coming from the waking side of the world. There was still so much information she wanted to gather... but she was quickly fading into the waking world. Next time... she thought to herself before waking up.

(Hooray for a long chapter! Bonus points to the person who spotted the Hunger Games references in the last chapter.)


	24. Chapter 23: A Welcome at The Refuge

**Chapter 23: A Welcome at The Refuge** (Cherrypaw POV)

Firestar stepped forward to speak to the rogue. "The Refuge?" He asked. Thrush nodded, saying "Yes, this is the Refuge of Non-Infected Cats, but we usually just call it The Refuge. Me and my two kits, plus Storm's family, run it. We get cats passing through all the time," He said, " but this is the most we have ever had at once!" Firestar nodded. "We come from a cla- or at least, what is left of the clans. We're heading to the sun-down place, would you know the best way to get there?"

Thrush nodded. "Oh, you mean the ocean? Yeah, it's not too far from here. Maybe a three or four day journey. But may I ask why you and your group are heading there?" Firestar paused for a second before answering his question. "Well... we don't really know. But we were told to go there, so we will. Is there any way to get there faster?" Thrush nodded again. "Yeah, I know a way to get there a day or two faster. It may be dangerous though, although nowadays, just living is dangerous. But it involves... well, it involves riding in a monster."

The clan cats gasped, and many mouths hung wide open. "B-b-bbut... It's a two-leg monster!" Some cat shouted out loud. Thrush let out a sigh. Out in the crowd of Refuge cats, most of them just shifted uncomfortably, except for Fin, who was still bouncing around in excitement, and Roo, who was staring into the crowd of cats, as if looking for someone. Who was she looking for? Thrush continued speaking. "Well, yes, but it is fairly safe. You see, every dusk, a huge two-leg monster comes by, stops, and takes some of the big containers, the ones we used to hide in. Usually during this time, we go into the other room to hide, but this time, we will be outside. When the monster opens, you and your group will jump inside and hide behind the containers. Then, you will get a free ride halfway to the ocean before you must get off. But I must warn you again... don't let the two-legs see you, or they will hit you with another sleeping thorn." He said, motioning to Willowshine, who was still sleeping drowsily on the floor. "But the most important things are one, stay on the bus until at least morning, to escape the Infected, and two, get off as soon as the monster stops at the big blue building outside the forest. If you stay on past then, the two-leg will take out all the containers, and you will be caught."

Firestar sighed. "We don't really have much of a choice. Ok, we will do it." The clan cats once again let out a gasp, but some were beginning to murmur in agreement. Thrush nodded briskly. "Well, it is still a bit until dusk, so make yourself at home here. Feel free to poke around at any of the two-leg stuff. Roo, can you show the cats where the food is, and Clover, can you show them the place to rest?" They both nodded. "Ok, I will call us together again at just before dusk. Until then, rest up. You have a long journey in front of you."

Cherrypaw was starving, so when Thrush was done speaking, she ran right up to Roo. Foxleap was already there, eyes staring with... love at her? Foxleap asked her something, and she laughed. "Sure, I can show you the food." Then she yowled out to everyone else, "Anyone who wants food, follow me!" Cherrypaw then followed her into the back of the Refuge.


	25. Chapter 24: Ewww

**Chapter 24: Ewww...**

Cherrypaw nearly leaped back in horror, grimacing at the sight in front of her eyes. It smelled terrible, and at that moment she would rather of been staring at a zombie than staring at this. "Y…you expect us to eat this?" Roo snickered and nodded. "Unless you would rather go hunting out there with the zombies…" Cherrypaw thought to herself _I would almost rather…_

Mossypaw, who had just bounced up beside her along with Fin and Hailpaw, didn't look nearly as horror-stuck as Cherrypaw did, and giggled at her look. "Come on- it can't be that bad!" They watched as Roo hopped up onto the top shelf and kicked another container down; it splattered on the floor and thousands of tiny little kittypet food bits spilled out. The Refuge cats ran up to it, and after a moment of hesitation, most of the clan cats followed. Cherrypaw carefully walked up to it, eyeing it like it might come alive and bite her or something. She carefully took a bite- and she was right. It was terrible. But at least it was food…

After a few bites, her stomach seemed full enough; she couldn't stand another bite of that foul stuff. All around her, the cats were still eating. They were all gulping down the food, sitting in a wide semi-circle. Roo and Foxleap were laying down together, while Fin was sitting next to Hailpaw, discussing the best tasting piece of prey. Then there Mossypaw, who had already finished, was bouncing around in excitement, wanting to do something. Cherrypaw walked over to her. "Hey… you want to go exploring?"

Mossypaw looked at her happily. "Sure, let's go!" She replied, and excitedly ran off to the back of the store. Cherrypaw sighed, and then yelled out "Hey, wait for me!"


	26. Chapter 25: A Rising Horror

**Chapter 25: A Rising Horror**

Cherrypaw peeked through a small crack in the wall in the very back of the Refuge. "Well… do you think we can go through it?" Mossypaw looked at her quizzically. "Why in the world would we want to go outside? With the zombies?" Cherrypaw just sighed. "They are ASLEEP right now! Come on, it will be fun!" Before Mossypaw had a chance to respond, Cherrypaw had already squeezed through the hole, and out into the bright sunlight. She ran into the fields, and oh, it was great to feel the sun on her fur! She heard a small thud, and nearly jumped, until she remembered she was safe. It was just Mossypaw, who had tripped through the hole on her way out, making Cherrypaw snicker. Then they both ran off to play.

And oh, it was the best fun they had had in ages! Running free through the fields, climbing trees, with no one to tell you what to do, it was the best. It was even more fun than playing with Molekit… but when she thought of him, she nearly fell to the ground again with sadness, so she pushed him from her mind. He was gone…

It was amazing how fast the fun could end. They were just racing each other, free of worries, when Mossypaw tripped over something soft, laughing, but then as she turned around it evolved into a scream. It was the zombie she had seen earlier, still sleeping and oozing blood. She turned around to plunge back into the grass and escape the horrors, when she heard Cherrypaw start to laugh. "Oh come on, you scaredy mouse! Its asleep, it can't hurt you! The sun hasn't even STARTED to set yet!" She turned around. Cherrypaw was right, it was asleep… it couldn't do anything… She walked forward and jabbed it with a claw. It just sat there, asleep, and they both laughed. It was just fine… so they began to pad away.

That was, until the zombie opened its eyes.

* * *

><p>(Guys, we're so close to the end... D:)<p>

(The final chapter will be published on Saturday, and I'll tell you all how I planned to end it. Thank you for sticking with this story.)


	27. Chapter 26: Somewhere

**Chapter 26: Somewhere**

Dovewing sighed and laid down in the nest she had made in the back of the den. She was so tired from traveling all day, so exhausted from the constant noise around her. But now, finally, the noises had died down as the cats had settled in to the Refuge to sleep, savoring the time before dusk came and they would have to leave again…. Her mind was starting to drift. It felt like forever since she had stopped moving her paws. She closed her eyes.

Moments later, they shot open.

Because somewhere, far away, she had heard a scream.

Mousewhisker drifted around, not knowing where he was. He was just somewhere. Bright lights moved around him, whispers echoed through his head. He wasn't a body, nor was he a spirit, but he was there. He looked down, and far below him, he could see everything he once knew, both Starclan and the real world.

But he was so far away still. Trapped, almost. There was no time here, there were no changes, but he could sense others around him. Other cats. More than ever before. They were here, and so was he, but where was 'here'?

It was somewhere.

Ivypool blinked open her eyes. She was tired, but not as tired as usual. At least she had managed to get in some rest, and at least her training would be less now. She would need all the energy she could get. She stood up, and glanced around at her rag-tag group. It was so small, so miniscule. And they were probably the only surviving cats of the clans. There were so few of them… She glanced over at Bumblestripe, who was taking the last watch. The sun was just now rising above the trees, and for the first time in a long time, she sensed a strange sense of… peace.

That everything would be alright.

(_Guys, there's... *gulp* there's only one chapter left. The final chapter isn't the real ending to the story, but it is a decent stopping point. Personally, it's one of my favorite chapters.__** Chapter 27: Worse than Death **__will be posted tomorrow morning, along with how I had planned to end the story. Unfortunately, my complete page of notes is gone, but I still have the general ending figured out, so you'll still find out what happens.)_

_(Thank you, all of you who have made it to this point. Thanks.)_


	28. Chapter 27: Worse Than Death

**Chapter 27: Worse than Death.**

_Running…_

_Running…_

_Feet pounding, heart pumping…_

_A streak through the grass, shaking the fields…_

_Eyes focused ahead, one thought in the mind…_

_Running…_

_Run._

It rose behind them before either of the cats even noticed. A silent, but deadly, beast. Even with its ever fading strength, despite it being dead, the monster retained one thing; the ability to focus. Not to think, or to have feeling, but it could still focus, using the most basic of instincts. Once this cat had been Stick- a fluffy, sweet tom, living alone in the world. All in a single day, this had changed, and he had become a monster. Its' mind, while the rest of it was dead, could somehow still focus though. And it found itself focusing on one thing…

_Prey._

Prey, so close, so easy. On basic instinct, it released just a slight moan of accomplishment, and the two cats jumped around, at first confused, then terrified. It was almost upon them, and they only just had time to turn and face it.

While the zombies rely on instinct, which makes them almost unstoppable, the cats have one hidden ally. The ability… to think. To feel emotion. In the end, it was what sent them help.

Both cats, too terrified to make a single basic movement, too terrified to even breathe, were just moments from their deaths. Time slowed down, the zombie seconds from ending their lives…

But it was not their fate to die that day. Not yet.

One hope had reached them in time. A grey pelt seemed to fly through the fields, just before hitting the zombie at full speeds. They both reeled back through the air, crashing into the grassland behind them. By the time the two cats had recovered a single thought, they were already rushing over. There lying on the ground were two bodies. The first was the zombie, unmoving once again, neck broken, brown pelt, hair falling out in chunks. Finally, it had been put to peace. Dead… again. But beside the broken, mangled body, rested another cat. She was breathing hard, but breathe was having trouble coming to her. She had been running so hard, to save them. Dovewing. They were beside her in seconds.

"Dovewing! Y-y-ou saved us!" cried Cherrypaw. She almost wept with relief. "We have to get back! Are all right?"

Mossypaw, however, who was on the other side of her, saw the truth that Dovewing herself had just noticed moments before. A tiny gash, near the top of her left shoulder, sealed her fate. The zombie had gotten to her in its last moments. She was going to die.

Dovewing herself had felt every instant of the zombie sinking its teeth into her fur in its final moments. She had known the consequences this would bring. But she had attacked the zombie without a doubt inside her, because she had known that it was what she needed to do. And now, she still had to do just one final act. "Hurry… go back to the Refuge. Now."

Cherrypaw, still unknowing, was confused. "But what about you? We have to get you back!-" Dovewing shifted her body around, groaning at the effort it took to move. Cherrypaw stopped midsentence, every possible ounce of happiness drained out of her in a single moment. "No… no… no… you saved us! You can't die… you can't become one of them! We can help you! You… you can't die…"

Dovewing had sorely gotten up and turned away from the two small cats. She began limping into the fields. "No! Dovewing!" Cherrypaw cried out, which caused Dovewing to turn around. She had a look of pure sorrow and grief on her face, something neither had ever seen before. Both of the two young apprentices had been through a lot in just a few days, but neither had ever experienced this. Neither had ever had a cat that was pretty much a stranger face worse than death to save them.

It pained Dovewing just as much to walk into the field, to accept her death when it would come. But she knew she had to do it. It was her destiny…

So as she looked at them with her face of grief, she spoke her very last words, turning to the sky, whispering just loud enough for them to hear, "Ivypool… I'm coming…" And with that, Dovewing turned around and slowly padded into the field. She didn't look back.

.

..

_.._

.

So, that's it. That's all I ever wrote for this story and all I ever plan to write for it. This story is a personal piece of pride for me because it wasn't only my first story, but also the longest I had ever written. I regret giving it up and not giving it a true ending back when I was still writing it, but at this point, too much time had passed. The story of _The Infection_ ends here. I want to thank each and every person who followed my story, left a review, favorited it, or even just took time out of their day to read it. I enjoy writing, but my greatest joy has always been sharing my work with others. Thank you.

Here are my notes on how I planned to end the story so that you may have at least a little closure.

**OUTLINE**

1. ** Escape from the Refuge** (Cherry+Moss come running back, but all of a sudden, zombies begin to awaken even though it's still day time. The refuge is surrounded and the cat's only chance for escape is a two-leg truck that's about to drive off. Not every cat makes it, and a few of the injured ones are sadly left behind, never to be seen again. Either Roo or Foxleap dies. Sorry.)

2. **Travel by truck** (The cats are exhausted after the battle as the truck travels down the road. Cherry+Moss reveal Dovewing's death, and there's lots of character development. The truck stops at a big, blue building and the cats sneak into it before the are spotted.)

3. ** Battle at the blue building** (It's still dark, and the cats take refuge in a big blue building that has many zombies in it. A few more minor cats die. The sun rises, but the zombies keep battling, and don't finally sleep until an hour later. Something (cough cough Dark Forest)is making the zombies be able to stay up later, even past sunrise, and wake up earlier before sunset. Their safe travel time is shortening by the day.)

4. ** Final Miles** (The cats struggle on, exhausted. In a moment of joy, they stumble upon Ivypool's group. Yay for happy reunions! The cats struggle to make it up a huge hill, but at its crest, they get their first glimpse of the sun-drown place, the ocean. They see a sign-maybe a shining light?- in the distance which points them to a huge, white monster (A giant cargo ship, which will be their escape.) Even better, down below they see the group of cats from the other two clans! They run down to meet them and discover they too are heading to the boat. However, at that moment the zombies around them start to wake up, even though it's hours from sunset. The cats race the final miles to the boat. All around them, cats from the Dark Forest start to appear to slow them down. Things are looking bad, until Starclan arrives and surrounds them to make their final stand to help the cats escape. Lionblaze stays behind to hold off many cats and goes down in one last blaze of glory. The last zombie Lionblaze takes out before he dies is Jayfeather. )

5. **Final Battle of the field** (The cats make it to the edge of the dock, but in front of them are many, many zombies and Dark Forest cats. The final battle begins! After a lengthy battle montage and many deaths, there is a huge burst of light; Mousewhisker appears from Somewhere and calls back all the good cats, even those not from the clans, that have ever faded. The battle quickly turns in their favor and for the first time, even the zombies are outnumbered. Yes, Mousewhisker turns out to be the fourth. Many cats lost their lives in the last battle, but none of them faded (cats that don't belong to the Dark Forest are never fade anymore!))

6. **Run for the boat** (There is a moment of peace, however, the cats hear the boat starting to leave shore. They take off after it and most of them manage to make it, but a few heavily injured cats are sadly left behind. The cats who are safe on the boat say goodbye to land as they drift away.)

7. **Safe and sound on the boat** (On the boats, the cats occupy themselves with hiding from the two-legs and catching mice/rats, but they are at least safe. No zombies are around. More character development, mourning, ect.)

8. **Epilouge** (Months later, a cat spots land. The next day the boat lands, and the cats find themselves in a new land. They talk to a local cat and discover that there are no zombies here: the cat has never even heard of them! They happily go off to start a new clan, all of the cats together. Happy endings! :))


End file.
